


New Year's Eve

by golden_kimono



Category: Jrock, the GazettE
Genre: Early Days, Fluff and Angst, M/M, New Year's Eve, Platonic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-04 13:50:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3070514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golden_kimono/pseuds/golden_kimono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kai feels like not all his new band mates like him much, but one New Year's party changes that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Year's Eve

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [20_fics](20-fics.livejournal.com) on LJ, prompt 007 "Wanna?"
> 
> Set in early band days (end of 2003/start of 2004).

Another year had come to an end, and Kai felt no closer to his goals than he had done last year, or the year before. He knew being successful as a band took time, that it wasn’t something that would simply happen, but he still wished they were there already. At this point in time he wasn’t even sure it would happen at all, because they were still young and after he took Yune’s place, well… The members and the fans were taking their time warming up to him. Something he could understand, but he felt uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was new.

Ruki had been accepting from the start, which made sense, seeing how he had been the one to introduce him to the others, and Reita wasn’t too difficult to befriend, so they had bonded fairly easily. Uruha and Aoi, however, were a different story. Reita had assured him Uruha took his time with these things, because he liked to stick to what he knew, but he also promised to give Uruha a good kick if he took _too_ long. Aoi…

Aoi, like Kai, had joined the other three later, although he had been part of this band from the start. Which meant he wasn’t an outsider in the slightest, but it also meant the others weren’t as close to him yet as they were to each other and it left Kai on his own to try to get a connection with him; no Reita to help him here! (The bassist had admitted to him that he found Aoi intimidating at times.)

So two members seemed to… perhaps not _dislike_ him, but they certainly weren’t overly fond of him either. And he was stuck with them for New Year’s. It wasn’t a big party, just a few people at Aoi’s place with food and drinks – mostly drinks, and mostly alcoholic. Music was playing and people were talking, and Kai could only hope no one would break any of Aoi’s equipment or guitars, or there would undoubtedly be hell to pay.

Honestly, he hadn’t even been invited by Aoi. Reita had been the one to do so and Aoi had merely shrugged when he had been asked if Kai could come too, something everyone else seemed to read as ‘yes’ while Kai had wanted nothing more than to reassure Aoi he could find somewhere else to go; the last thing he wanted to do was annoy the other on his own turf.

And now here he was, hiding out in the tiny kitchen as the clock slowly ticked down to midnight. A new year, new opportunities. Well, hopefully. Kai always tried to be optimistic, but sometimes it was hard, and it didn’t help that his father was trying to approach his mother again, something that only added to his stress. His fear that he wasn’t good enough for the band and that they’d kick him out was another point of worry, and in the back of his head he did sometimes wonder if they’d disband. He knew they were all dedicated, but anything could happen, right?

“Oh, here you are!”

Kai lifted his head and watched as Aoi stumbled in, cursing when his sleeve got stuck on the door handle. He had sooner expected Reita or Ruki to come looking for him, but Ruki kept nodding off due to having worked far too much this week and Reita had told him earlier he didn’t want to leave him on his own. “Just in case,” he had said. (“In case of what?” Kai had wanted to ask, but instead he had smiled and nodded.)

“Not many other places I could be,” Kai replied dryly, eliciting a loud snort from Aoi’s mouth.

“You could’ve left,” the guitarist offered when he leaned against the counter near Kai, inspecting his sleeve for any holes or other damage.

Kai frowned at that. Did Aoi really think Kai would leave without saying anything? Or did he mean he wouldn’t even notice? Neither option was very appealing, and Aoi seemed to understand his train of thought, because he frowned in return.

“It’s just- Maybe it’s not your scene, I don’t know.” Aoi shrugged and folded his arms, gazing down at the floor. “You don’t talk much to me anyway, so I get it if you don’t want to be here.”

Wait, did he just… He thought Kai didn’t like him? “You don’t talk to me either,” he replied defensively, feeling like a child as soon as he did. After all, there was no use pointing fingers.

“…That’s true,” Aoi admitted after a brief silence. “But you’re kind of scary.”

Kai’s frown deepened. _He_ was scary? That was a new one. He opened his mouth to tell him it was sooner the other way around, but Aoi made a noise and gestured at his face.

“See! When you smile you’re all cute, but when you frown, it’s like you’re gonna punch someone!”

Kai felt slightly awkward at that. Was that true? He certainly never intended to give off that impression, especially since he wasn’t generally violent.

“Ah, don’t look like that…” Aoi glanced around as though he hoped his cutlery would give him advice on what to do with an upset band member. “It’s kind of hot too, does that make you feel better?”

Cute? Hot? What on earth was the guitarist rambling on about? Kai shook his head and rubbed his temples. “You’re confusing me,” he mumbled. Then, almost sulkily: “And you’re scarier.”

Aoi raised his eyebrows and stepped in front of Kai, one hand on either side of him, trapping him in place before he leaned forward and looked him straight in the eye. “How am I scary, exactly?”

Kai gazed at the other in disbelief. “You’re holding me captive in your kitchen, and you’re seriously asking me that?!”

“You’re not exactly trying to get free,” Aoi pointed out. “But I have to admit you’re less scary like this, so I don’t mind.”

Rolling his eyes, Kai placed his hands on Aoi’s chest, ready to push him away, but he hesitated. “Wait, so you don’t hate me?”

“Hate you?” Aoi furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would I?” When Kai only shrugged, he leaned in a little closer. “I like you, Kai,” he said earnestly. “You’re a good guy, you’re attractive, talented… Just a little intimidating, that’s all.”

Kai hummed and smiled slightly. “I could say the same to you.”

“What, that I’m attractive and talented? Please do.”

Now it was Kai’s turn to snort. Well… At least Aoi had no problems with him then (and maybe he’d do his best to smile a bit more). Only one more member to go! That was when he realised his hands were still on Aoi’s chest, something the guitarist seemed to have noticed as well, for he glanced down at them before flickering his eyes back upwards.

“You know, it’s nearly midnight…”

Kai blinked and nodded slowly. “I know. Why, what?”

Aoi bit his lip and shuffled closer. “What do people do at midnight on New Year’s?” he asked. When Kai apparently took too long to respond, he continued on. “I meant it when I said I like you. But, you know, _really_ like you. So…” He sucked his snakebite into his mouth and gave Kai a significant look. “Wanna?”

Oh. _Oh._

Kai’s eyes widened slightly. That was an unexpected development. He couldn’t say he returned the feeling, yet, at least, and he hadn’t ever been into a guy that way, though he couldn’t deny that he did think Aoi was beautiful. And, had the other been a woman, he wouldn’t have hesitated for even a moment. What did it matter for a kiss anyway? Because he assumed that was what Aoi was hinting at.

“Okay,” Kai said with a smile, feeling strangely nervous when the countdown could be heard from the living room. He wasn’t usually nervous about kissing people, because it was something he was good at and Aoi being a guy really shouldn’t be a reason for him to feel any different. Perhaps it was simply the fact that they were quite literally counting down instead of just doing it, and it didn’t help that Aoi’s dark eyes were staring into his own so intensely.

Their lips touched on “one”, the metal of Aoi’s piercing digging into Kai’s flesh, but it wasn’t a particularly unpleasant feeling. In fact, he quite liked the edge it provided, and it wasn’t long before he clenched his hands in Aoi’s shirt and tugged him closer to deepen the kiss, carefully nipping at the place the piercing met Aoi’s mouth and receiving a sharp gasp in return.

When they finally broke apart, they gazed at each other quietly for a moment, their breaths mingling.

“You know,” Kai began slowly, “my grandmother used to say that what you do at midnight on New Year’s Eve is a sign for the rest of the year.”

Aoi grinned. “Then let’s not disappoint.” With that, he leaned in once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year, everybody!!


End file.
